Anyone got any advice regards buying marble...

[WR1 Bro]

Looking to get some marble/granite/natural stone floor tiles. Does anyone have any advice prior to me making a decision. Unusal request on a car forum but I know we all have weird and wonderful backgrounds. Anything I can learn before buying would be great.

Cheers chaps..

[Foley]

marble/granite/natural floor tiles mark easily,

Need slippers on to walk on marble and granite tiles,
Very easily marked mate and a nightmare to polish out,

[Chris 280]

have put granite worktops in my kitchen,a mate did it for me he has his own company but doing worktops and such,doesn,t do tiles as he buys it in slabs,10 x 8 (foot)a slab looks well smart especially in star galaxy black.he did say to watch out as some importers/buyers sell stuff cheaper but it has lots of imperfections and could be from a poor quality source,misses wanted granite tiles in bathroom but are very expensive,so we got porcelain which looks the dogs and was a lot less,not as cheap as normal tiles but much better,conglomerate marble or granite about the same price as granite but marks a lot more and looks a bit shite after time so am told ,dont know if this is any help to you but might be

[WR1 Bro]

This is along the lines of the info I want. Need to find out where to get the good quality tiles because I want it to be a feature in our house.

[MaverickUK82]

marble is very very slippery when wet.

My grandad used to have a villa in Marbella, which had a pool, but the terrace was made of marble. The accidents that were had by having wet feet and running on the marble... ouch.

[Chris 280]

will try and phone my mate tomorrow and ask if he knows of anybody who might be able to help.

[WR1 Bro]

Unfortunately I don't have a pool so the floor will remain dry unless my little girl continues her recent habit of filling her mouth with water and spitting it out in your face.

[WR1 Bro]

will try and phone my mate tomorrow and ask if he knows of anybody who might be able to help.

Nice one fella.

[Chris 280]

no probs mate.

[WAYNE WRX]

What kind of size are you after????

[WR1 Bro]

The room could accomodate are fairly large tile. Anything from 30cmx30 right up to 90x90. The don't have to be square. Area to cover, I would guess at 20m^2. I'll need to measure.

[Chris 280]

spoke to mate .he says to try global tiles,but all depends on the colour and look you are after,porcelain tiles most hard wearing,more than granite etc especially in heavy trafic area,but granite can be repaired easier,,he recons you can get granite ones similar price or less than porcelain,if you shop around /hagle.good luck mate.

[WR 1mposter]

Then you drop a bottle of wine or something similar and ....chip an crack,
not the most practicle flooring but looks the dangles

Love granite personally being from the granite county

[M9JOC]

I work with marble and stone daily. If the tiles are laid correctly on the floor they should never crack even with something drop on them, most naturale marbles are viened these veins open and close with heat that is when cracking can happen but is sufficiently laid not and issue.
Limestone or travertine are good because they are the least expensive but if not treated soak up any liquid and stain which is very hard to remove although i have found with demestos can change the colour of the stains to work with the limestone.

Try Blyth Marble or if you want a very impressive British Stone (Bathstone) Try Farmington Stone

James

[Foley]

I work with marble and stone daily. If the tiles are laid correctly on the floor they should never crack even with something drop on them, most naturale marbles are viened these veins open and close with heat that is when cracking can happen but is sufficiently laid not and issue.
Limestone or travertine are good because they are the least expensive but if not treated soak up any liquid and stain which is very hard to remove although i have found with demestos can change the colour of the stains to work with the limestone.

Try Blyth Marble or if you want a very impressive British Stone (Bathstone) Try Farmington Stone

James

Some good advice there

[SPIKE LIKE MIKE]

Visit a greek or turkish or indian house mate........they will definately know "style icons"

[WR1 Bro]

Thanks guys. Some great info to help me start my research. Quick measurements suggest I need about 26m^2 so I'll start looking. When I have a short list of material I will post for some final advice.

Thanks again.

[John Mc]

Having laid both mate, make sure you get someone who lays this for a living and not a jobber that does it once in a while because these need laying properly otherwise if you want a "feature", it may be a feature that you don't really want if they are all over the place.

Make sure whatever you lay them on is solid and doesn't move (flex), try to avoid underfloor heating or if you do have underfloor heating, get the same person/company to do it all... or at least warranty their work as they will end up blaming each other if it goes wrong and lifts up. I've seen some right messy end-results with underfloor heating installed with incorrect screed depths etc...

Pay for quality materials and fitting with this stuff.

[WR1 Bro]

I'd do it myself if I had the time. Really like doing flooring.

Thanks to all.

[RobinSherwood]

Are you after a polished looking floor or something more natural?

It all depends on the style of the house - I have a natural limestone floor throughout the hall, cloakroom and kitchen and it sort of gains patina, it was put down about 5 years ago but now looks like its as old as the house and adds to the country house feel. It isn't too hard to clean if you use the right stuff.

The slabs are pretty thick and don't actually get that cold, while I would choose to walk around in slippers it isn't so cold you cant walk bare foot.

HTH

Robin

[WR1 Bro]

I'm looking for a polished finish. The house is a "normal" modern house built about 10 years ago. It needs to have a WOW factor as the floor in question is our hallway, so the first room you see when you enter the house.

[M9JOC]

creme marfil, it is a lovely natural spanish marble with potential for thick viening.
A;though i was in a house recently the couple have spent 750.ooo on the extension and had used Cerrara and ruivena marble the contrast between the two was sensational. I know cerrara is thought of as old fasioned but i think it looked brilliant and when polished would be amazing.

If anybody has walked through Skepol (dont know the spelling) airport and looked at the floor which is Star galaxy now that would be awesome (but very $$$)

James

[Foley]

creme marfil, it is a lovely natural spanish marble with potential for thick viening.
A;though i was in a house recently the couple have spent 750.ooo on the extension and had used Cerrara and ruivena marble the contrast between the two was sensational. I know cerrara is thought of as old fasioned but i think it looked brilliant and when polished would be amazing.

If anybody has walked through Skepol (dont know the spelling) airport and looked at the floor which is Star galaxy now that would be awesome (but very $$$)

James

It's cool bro has plenty £££££££